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Donald Trump administration Secretary of Education appointment, 2017
From Ballotpedia
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Following his election as the 45th President of the United States in 2016, Donald Trump and his transition team considered individuals to fill the position of Secretary of Education. The secretary of education is tasked with promoting what he or she sees as educational excellence and ensuring equal opportunity for public schooling.[1] Betsy DeVos was nominated for the position on November 23, 2016, and confirmed on February 7, 2017.
| Nomination tracker | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate: Betsy DeVos | ||
| Position: Secretary of Education | ||
| Confirmation progress | ||
 | Announced: | November 23, 2016 |
| Hearing: | January 17, 2017 |
| Committee: | Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee |
| Reported: | January 31, 2017 (12-11) |
| Confirmed: | February 7, 2017 |
| Vote: | 51-50 |
To read more about the U.S. Department of Education and its current staff, click here.
Timeline
- See also: Betsy DeVos
The following timeline highlights noteworthy events related to this appointment.
- November 23, 2016: Trump nominated Betsy DeVos for the position.[2]
- January 17, 2017: DeVos appeared before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions for a confirmation hearing.[3][4]
- February 7, 2017: The U.S. Senate voted 51-50 to confirm DeVos, with Vice President Mike Pence (R) casting the tie-breaking vote. It was the first time in history a vice president had been called upon to break a tie in a vote on a cabinet nomination.[5]
Considered candidates for Secretary of Education
The table below highlights individuals who were either nominated to the position by Trump or were mentioned in the media as potential nominees.
| Considered candidates for Secretary of Education | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Notable experience | Source | |
| Williamson Evers | Education fellow at Hoover Institution | Politico | |
| Ben Carson* | Former neurosurgeon | The New York Times | |
| Luke Messer | U.S. Representative from Indiana | Politico | |
| Tony Zeiss | Former president of Central Piedmont Community College (N.C.) | Politico | |
| Eva Moskowitz | Founder of Success Academy Charter Schools | Politico | |
| Michelle Rhee | Former chancellor of Washington, D.C. public schools | Politico | |
| Mitch Daniels | Former Gov. of Indiana | Politico | |
| Gerard Robinson | Education fellow at the American Enterprise Institute | Politico | |
| Tony Bennett | Former Indiana superintendent of public instruction | Politico | |
| Scott Walker | Gov. of Wisconsin | Politico | |
| Hanna Skandera | New Mexico Secretary of Education | Politico | |
Betsy DeVos  |
Education activist and philanthropist | Politico | |
| Kevin Chavous | Education activist | Politico | |
| *According to The Washington Post, Carson took himself out of consideration for a cabinet appointment on November 15, 2016, saying he would prefer "to work from the outside and not from the inside."[6] | |||
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ U.S. Department of Education, "About Ed: Overview and Mission Statement," accessed October 2, 2013
- ↑ Twitter, "Presidential Transition Team Tweet," November 23, 2016
- ↑ U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Labor, Education, and Pensions, "Nomination of Betsy DeVos to serve as Secretary of Education," accessed January 5, 2017
- ↑ Politico, "DeVos hearing delayed," January 9, 2017
- ↑ The New York Times, "Betsy DeVos Confirmed as Education Secretary; Pence Breaks Tie," February 7, 2017
- ↑ The Washington Post, "Ben Carson is unlikely to serve in Trump’s Cabinet," November 15, 2016
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